Workers who have subscribed to the Contributory Pension Scheme have risen to 6.74 million in the past 11 years, investigation has revealed.

Data made available to our correspondent on Tuesday by the National Pension Commission showed that the number of contributors with Retirement Savings Accounts rose from 5.78 million to 6.26 million between 2013 and 2014, and 6.74 million by the third quarter of this year.

According to PenCom, the number of employees who had opened their individual RSAs rose to 4.41 million, 4.82 million and 5.27 million by the end of 2010, 2011 and 2012, respectively.

In the 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009 financial periods, the total contributors under the CPS were 1.31 million, 2.78 million, 3.46 million and 4.01 million in that order.

The Director-General, PenCom, Mrs. Chinelo Anohu-Amazu, said the commission had continued to introduce measures to make employers comply with the Pension Reform Act, 2014.

According to her, the commission is in the process of introducing the CPS to the informal sector.

Anohu-Amazu said PenCom had commenced a nationwide dialogue with self-employed persons and workers in the informal sector ahead of the commencement of the micro pension scheme in the country.

The PenCom boss said the commission was introducing the micro pension as a financial programme for the provision of pension services to self-employed persons and informal sector workers.

According to her, the government hopes to bring at least 20 million informal sector workers and self-employed persons into the scheme in the next four years.

She also said that necessary arrangements were being put in place to ensure the smooth commencement of the scheme later this year, adding that a key feature of the CPS was the institutionalisation of risk-based regulation as a means of engendering the long-term sustainability of the pension industry.

The PenCom boss said the old Defined Benefits System had a pension deficit of about N2tn, but that the new CPS, which was started in 2004, had been able to raise over N5.3tn.

According to her, the operators are deliberating on the most appropriate strategies for leveraging pension funds to finance the execution of critical infrastructure projects.

“Infrastructure development undoubtedly remains a key enabler of sustainable development in Africa and the current rapid increase in the size of pension funds available in the continent provides a rare opportunity for multi-sectoral collaboration in bridging Africa’s infrastructure deficit,” Anohu-Amazu said.

The Executive Secretary, Pension Fund Operators Association of Nigeria, Ms. Susan Oranye, said it was important for employers to embrace the CPS so as to enable their workers to enjoy the benefits provided by the PRA 2014.

Oranye noted that the PRA 2014 was enacted to ensure that workers had comfortable lifestyles when working and at retirement.

According to her, this objective can only be achieved when employers enrol their workers on the scheme.

The Act mandates employers with at least three workers to register them with a Pension Fund Administrator.

Under the law, employers are to contribute 10 per cent and deduct eight per cent of the employees’ monthly emolument, which must be regularly remitted to the workers RSAs.

The New Pension Act 2014 : Hope for the Nigerian Employee

Story by Sogo Akinola

Last Updated: Friday, October 23,2015

A pension is a fixed sum to be paid regularly to a person, typically following retirement from service. There are many different types of pensions, including defined benefit plans, contributory schemes, defined contribution plans, as well as several others.
It is quite sad that some people still associate pension with old age. For the larger percentage of employees who have been involved in the pension contributory scheme have a better idea of what the scheme is all about and it is important for every employee in days of active service to concentrate on their pension contributions from the first day of employment.
Those who have the archaic believe of pension been a scam or a retirement talk should rather sit up and learn more about the contributory scheme. The New Pension Act 2014 is an eye opener of the obvious benefits in the contributory scheme.
The Pension Act 2014
On 1 July 2014, President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan signed into law the “Act”, which repeals the Pension Reform Act 2004. The new Act serve as the enabling legislation for the administration of the contributory pension scheme. Act has some major amendments which everyone,employers and employees should find quite exciting just as I do and benefit from the major changes which were made in this new act to alleviate the sufferings of the Nigerian Employee from the shackles of pension problems which the former Act did not address. Some of the major changes are highlighted below:
Participation and contribution
The scope of participation of the contributory pension scheme for employers in the private sector has been decreased from minimum of five employees to three employees, which enables wider participation for the informal private sector, this is a wonderful development for employees in small scale employment, and they are not left out of the contributory benefit to secure their future.
There is also an increase in the rate of contributions, Under the Act,employers are to contribute 12% of the monthly emolument which was previously 7.5%, and the employees on the other hand are to contribute 8% which was previously 7.5%. For an employer that bears the total pension contributions of its employees they will be expected to make20% contribution. These contributions are applicable on monthly emoluments only.
It is important to note that the scope of the monthly emolument has been given a wider definition than before i.e. Monthly emoluments under the Act is defined as the total emoluments as may be defined in the employees contract of employment but shall not be less than a total of basic salary, housing allowance and transport allowance.
Sanctions and punishments
The Act now empowers the National pension commission to institute criminal proceedings against employers for persistent refusal to remit pension contributions subject to the fiat of the Attorney General of the Federation, which will be to the delight of employees right now.Furthermore Pension operators who mismanage pension funds are liable on conviction to not less than 10 years imprisonment and/or fine of an amount equal to three-times the amount so misappropriated or diverted now.
As it is clear that the benefit of pension is on the high side, some adamant employees still refuse to join this scheme, the pension act 2014 takes good care of these category of staffs by compelling an employer to open a Temporary Retirement Savings Account (TRSA) on behalf of an employee that failed to open an RSA within three (3) months of assumption of duty.
Recovery of Pension
The employees who have been involved actively in the contributory pension scheme often complain about recovery of pension after loss of job, the worry centers around the stipulated waiting period after a job loss, the new act has now given us a reason to smile as the act has reduced the waiting period for accessing benefits in the event of loss of job by employees from six (6) months to four (4) months. So in a sad case were you lose your job, you can quickly smile to the bank to access your benefits after 4 months.
Finally It is clear that the new pension Act 2014 is quite advantageous to the employees as some keys issues have been addressed such as upward review of the penalties and sanctions,enhanced coverage of the contributory pension scheme and informal sector participation, upward review of rate of pension contribution, opening of temporary retirement savings account for adamant employees and access to benefits in the event of loss of job.

Contributory Pension Scheme hits 5.03 trillion

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Keys To Success:Overcoming 5 Fears That Hold Entrepreneurs Back

There are plenty of fears and excuses that hold us back from getting what we want as entrepreneurs.But success(and failure) is a choice.
Fear No.1: Not believing in yourself
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Fear No.3: needing to be absolutely perfect.
Solution:Don’t stress every last,tiny detail.”I NEED THE PERFECT LOGO”
Fear No.4: Seeking money from investors.
Solution: Network and get creative.
Fear No.5: You lack enough experience and knowledge to get started
Solution: Don’t limit yourself if you don’t have a college education.